Press Release

HarperCollins Presents ‘An Order From the Sky and Other Stories’

An Order from the Sky
and Other Stories
by
Imayam
Translated from the Tamil
by
Vasantha Surya

Imayam is the winner of Sahitya Akademi Award in 2020
and one of the most significant Tamil writers today.
A master of the short story form, his work is uncompromising in its humanity.
Brilliantly translated by Vasantha Surya.

ABOUT THE BOOK

A man offering curses and prayers, gifts and threats to his favourite deity before embarking upon a day of thieving…
A woman in a packed bus, desperate to get home before her clothes are soaked with menstrual blood, but also determined to save a seat for a fellow woman…
A loyal, ageing party worker, hoping to finally contest an election, but discovering instead the worm in the apple of democracy…

Set for the most part in the small towns and villages of present-day Tamil Nadu, these stories describe the aspirations and agonies of the men and women living and working there: what they want is to survive and thrive as human beings. Imayam – winner of the Sahitya Akademi Award, and one of the most significant Tamil writers today – peers into their lives and observes them with rare empathy and attention. Written in spare, modern prose spiced with pungent regional dialect, and brought brilliantly to new life in Vasantha Surya’s luminous translation, An Order from the Sky and Other Stories redefines the possibilities of Indian fiction.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND TRANSLATOR

Imayam is the pen name of V. Annamalai, a schoolteacher and one of the foremost contemporary writers in Tamil. He has seven novels, six short-story collections and a novella to his credit. He has won several prestigious awards, including the Agni Akshara Award (1994), the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers’ Association Award (1994), the Amudhan Adigal Literary Award (1998), the Thamizh Thendral Thiru.Vi.Ka. Award (2009), the Anantha Vikatan Award (2016), the Iyal Award for Lifetime Achievement (2018), The Hindu’s Jayakanthan Award for Contemporary Tamil Literature (2018), and most recently, the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2020 for his novel Selladha Panam.

Vasantha Surya is a poet, journalist, and translator whose prose translations from Tamil include six novels, and an anthology of contemporary short fiction (A Place to Live). The Stalk of Time and A Word between Us are her two poetry collections in English, while among her translations of poetry are To Plunge Within, a selection of verses from
the Tamil classic, Nammaaazhwaar’s Thiruvaimozhi, and several poems in Tamil Dalit Writing. The Ballad of Budhni is her translation of a narrative folk poem from Bundeli Hindi.

Her works for children include Mridu in Madras, translated into Tamil by Prema Srinivasan and herself, and Ramayana for Children. Her articles and reviews have appeared in major Indian publications.

*

The author, Imayam says, “Writing, literature, society – it’s life itself that has taught me what these words actually mean. Real literature comes from real life. The novels and stories that have got written through me so far have not been written by me, but by society.”

The translator, Vasantha Surya says, “Without literary artifice, and using language like a hidden camera in the human jungle, Imayam achieves what has been described as a cinematic perspective into the social reality. His characters speak for themselves, and situations come alive. “

Mini Krishnan, Co-ordinating Editor, TNTB & ESC says, “The themes of Imayam’s fiction ( is it really fiction?) range from thieves and thugs to strong women, wronged women and even the grinding wheels of illness and commercialized healthcare. His stories are breakneck, intelligent social “thrillers” that invade even one’s dreams because the situations are so realistic. Perhaps that’s why long after you close the book, his characters remain with us as if they were relatives or friends.”

Rahul Soni, Associate Publisher (Literary) at HarperCollins, says, “We’re immensely privileged to be publishing these extraordinary stories by Imayam – brilliantly translated by Vasantha Surya, who brings alive the rhythms and flavours and fragrance of the original language into striking, contemporary English. Imayam is a true master of the short story form – what makes him stand out, to my mind, is the immense depth of his empathy, and his steadfast refusal to look away. The best of his work stands up to that of any great short story writer in the world, and redefines what Indian fiction can be, what it is capable of doing. We’re grateful to the Tamil Nadu Textbook & Educational Services Corporation and Mini Krishnan for collaborating with us in bringing these stories to readers under their landmark Tamil Literature in English Translation initiative.”

Published by Harper Perennial
With the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation
Paperback | 356 pp | Rs 399
Available wherever books are sold | Releasing 7th Feb 2023

***

ABOUT HARPER PERENNIAL

Harper Perennial is a dedicated imprint for translations, showcasing the finest and most compelling narratives from Indian languages – books that are timeless and stories that capture the essence of their times and the region from which they emanate. In its entirety, the Perennial library which features well over a hundred titles presents the kaleidoscope of India as seen through the eyes of the greatest modern writers writing in the local languages, comprising award-winning and well-loved novels, short fiction, poetry, plays, memoirs, biographies, and travelogues.

In the recent past, Harper Perennial has published a select list of titles in translation that readers have enjoyed – including S. Hareesh’s JCB Prize winning Moustache (translated from the Malayalam by Jayasree Kalathil), Jayant Kaikini’s DSC Prize winning No Presents Please (translated from the Kannada by Tejaswini Niranjana), Jnanpith awardee U.R. Ananthamurthy’s novel Avasthe (translated from the Kannada by Narayan Hegde), JCB awardee Benyamin’s shortstories Marquez, EMS, Gulam & Others (translated from the Malayalam by Swarup B.R.), the Crossword Book Award winning Diary of a Malayali Madman by N. Prabhakaran and the JCB Prize shortlisted Valli by Sheel Tomy (both translated from the Malayalam by Jayasree Kalathil), Vinod Kumar Shukla’s Blue Is Like Blue (translated from the Hindi by Arvind Krishna Mehrotra and Sara Rai) which won the Atta Galata–Bangalore Lit Fest Award for Best Fiction of the year as well as the Mathrubhumi Book of the Year Award, and many others.

ABOUT HARPERCOLLINS INDIA

HarperCollins is also celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, having begun publishing in India in 1992. HarperCollins India publishes some of the finest writersfrom the Indian Subcontinent and around the world, publishing approximately 200 new books every year, with a print and digital catalogue of more than 2,000 titles across 10 imprints. Its authors have won almost every major literary award including the Man Booker Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, New India Foundation Award, Atta Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Award, Publishing Next Award, Tata Literature Live! Award, Gaja Capital Business Book Prize, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, Sahitya Akademi Award and Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India also represents some of the finest publishers in the world including Harvard University Press, Gallup Press, Oneworld, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, Dover and Lonely Planet. HarperCollins India has won the Publisher of the Year Award four times at Tata Literature Live! in 2022, 2021, 2018 and 2016, and at Publishing Next in 2021 & 2015. HarperCollins India is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers.

For review copies, excerpt or interview requests, please contact: neha.kesarwani@harpercollins.co.in

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